Biden’s Commerce Nominee Seeks ‘Aggressive’ Steps Against China

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. must take “aggressive” steps to combat China’s “unfair” trade practices while also investing in American manufacturing to return production to the country, said Gina Raimondo, President Joe Biden’s nominee for Commerce secretary.

“We need to ensure that American workers and manufacturers can compete fairly on the global playing field,” Raimondo, who has served as governor of Rhode Island since 2015, said in prepared remarks Tuesday for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. “We need to invest in innovation and technology in our manufacturing sector and take aggressive trade enforcement actions to combat unfair trade practices from China and other nations.”

Her comments echo those of other Biden officials, who have signaled they will continue some of Donald Trump’s hard-line economic policies toward China, though they’ve so far omitted specifics. Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. is “prepared to use the full array of tools” to address actions such as “dumping products, erecting trade barriers and giving illegal subsidies to corporations.”

Raimondo and her team will inherit numerous enforcement actions against Chinese technology companies. Most notably, the Trump administration instituted an export ban for Huawei Technologies Co. that requires American firms to obtain government licenses before they’re allowed to sell U.S. tech and intellectual property to the Chinese telecommunications-equipment giant.

Raimondo’s stated goal of “reshoring” factory jobs to the U.S. is an echo of Trump, though his goal proved elusive. The number of U.S. manufacturing jobs stood at 12.3 million in December, little changed from four years earlier. Two decades ago, the figure topped 17 million.

Raimondo, 49, has been in public office in her home state since 2011, when she was sworn in as state treasurer. Before that, she spent more than a decade working in venture capital, including co-founding Point Judith Capital.

The Commerce Department comprises a variety of agencies including the Census Bureau, which runs the decennial count and compiles economic data; the International Trade Administration, charged with monitoring unfair global competition from dumping and subsidies, as well as enforcing U.S. trade laws; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, home to the National Weather Service; and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Raimondo was national co-chairwoman of Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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